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Pianhai leibian 篇海類編 is a Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) dictionary arranged by radicals, which are grouped into semantic categories. Traditional editions credit Song Lian 宋濂 (1310-1381) with compiling it, with Tu Long 屠隆 (1543-1605) or Zhang Jiahe 張嘉和 responsible for the final edition. Closer analysis shows that its content is an adaptation of the dictionary Xiangjiao pianhai 詳校篇海, which is itself a revision of Sisheng pianhai 四聲篇海, compiled around 1195. The two Ming-period revisions and rearrangements exhibit features typical of Ming-era commercial forgeries. Additional signs that suggest a forgery of the Pianhai leibian by a Ming-period bookseller include references to individuals who lived after Long Lian, such as Tian Ruzi 田汝耔 (1478-1533), Du Yu 都俞, Li Deng 李登, and Tang Xianzu 湯顯祖 (1550-1616). Furthermore, some famous dictionaries are attributed to incorrect authors, such as the Yuhai 玉篇 being attributed as a compilation of Chen Xin 陳新, the Hongwu zhengyun 洪武正韻 as a work of Mao Huang 毛晃, or the Wushengyun 五聲韻 and others as products of Zhang You 張有.
The work consists of twenty juan divided into thirty-nine categories, namely astronomy (1 Tianwen lei 天文類), geography (1-4 Dili lei 地理類), edicts concerning the seasons (4 Shiling lei 時令類), human affairs (4 -5 Renwu lei 人物類), the human body (5-8 Shenti lei 身體累), plants (9-11 Huamu lei 花木類), birds and beasts (11-13 Niaoshou lei 鳥獸類), scaly and crawling animals (13 Linjie lei 鱗介類), buildings (14 Gongshi lei 宮室類), food and commodities (14 Shihuo lei 食貨類), writing (14 Wenshi lei 文史類), treasures (15 Zhenbao lei 珍寶類), utensils (15-16 Qiwu lei 器物類), numbers (16 Shumu lei 數目類), sounds and colours (17 Shengse lei 聲色類), clothing (17 Yifu lei 衣服類), human activities (18-19 Renwu lei 人事類), Heavenly Stems and Terrestrial Branches (20 Ganzhi lei 干支類; see calendar), divination (20 Shibu 蓍卜類), and common words (20 Tongyong lei 通用類). Each category includes several sub-categories led by character radicals (bushou 部首), indicating that the book is arranged based on a combination of semantic and graphical principles.
The book features numerous entries of Chinese characters, each with detailed explanations of their forms, pronunciations, and meanings. It holds importance for the study of linguistic history, as it maintains traces of Tang-- (618-907) and Song-period (960-1279) phonology, as well as examples of regional vocabulary. Several entries also provide historical references valuable for modern dialect research. For example, the ancient pronunciation of the character chuan /kwan/ 串 is given as guan /kuan/ 貫, using the fanqie 反切 reading /tɕʰ-ǐwɛn/ 樞絹切. The character lang 筤 is defined as "young bamboo", with notes on its use in dialectal expressions for "bamboo groves". The character ta 遝 is explained as "to pursue", supporting its use in legal documents from the Qin 秦 (221-206 BCE) and Han 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) periods.
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Entries of the characters with the radical "metal" (jin bu 金部), belonging to the semantic group of jewelleries and precious objects (baozhen lei 寶珍類). The lemmas are arranged according to the number of residual strokes. |
A facsimile of the original Ming-period print is included in the series Siku cunmu congshu 四庫存目叢書.
| 1 | 天文類 Astronomy |
|---|---|
| 天，日，月，風，雲，雨，火，倝，元，气，光 | |
| 地理類 Geography | |
| 京，山 | |
| 2 | 水，井，阜 |
| 3 | 𠂤，土，田，石，泉，巛 (川)，谷，凵，穴，厂，里，屵，𠂢， 𨺅,巴，冂 |
| 4 | 𩫖(享)，邑 |
| 時令類 Edicts concerned with the seasons | |
| 歲，晨，夕，冫，更 | |
| 人物類 Human affairs | |
| 舜，王，人，臣，士，夫，父，母，兒，子，兄，弟，予，民，菐，九，酋，巫，甶，鬼，辟 | |
| 5 | 男，女，工 |
| 身體類 The body | |
| 身，心，𩠐(首)，骨 | |
| 6 | 血，頁，囟，髟，面，耳，目，肉，須，冉 |
| 7 | 皃，鼻，口，齒，牙，舌，呂，㳄，皮，力，毛，爪，尸 |
| 8 | 手，足，夨，尢 |
| 9 | 花木類 Plants |
| 木，竹 | |
| 10 | 華，艸，東，桼，𠌶，𣐺，果，𠂹，𥝌，堇 |
| 11 | 𠧪，茻，𢎘，鬯，禾，麥，黍，瓜，韭，丵，屮，𣏟，朩，麻，尗，豆，香 |
| 12 | 鳥獸類 Birds and beasts |
| 鳥，隹，烏，卵，羽，𠘧，飛，喿，巢 | |
| 12 | 馬，牛，羊，豕，犬，象，豸，虎，鹿，廌，犛，熊，雈，㲋，㣇，兔，能，鼠，角，彑 |
| 13 | 革，尾，㼱，禸，虍 |
| 鱗介類 Scaly and creeping animals | |
| 龍，魚，龜，黽，蟲 | |
| 14 | 宮室類 Buildings |
| 广，宀，門，戶，囱，片，㐭，宁 | |
| 食貨類 Food and commodities | |
| 米，食，甘，酉，鹵，鹽，旨 | |
| 文史類 Documents | |
| 文，書，冊，章，句 | |
| 15 | 珍寶類：Jewelry |
| 金，玉，寶，玨 | |
| 器用類 Tools | |
| 皿，戈，弓，矛，矢，殳，盾，戉，琴 | |
| 16 | 㫃，龠，刃，磬，鼓，几，牀，壺，斗，鼎，印，瓦，臼，匚，缶，匸，网，舟，卮，甾，車，㯻，豊，耒，刀，鬲，䰜，𠤎，弋，𠦒 |
| 數目類 Numbers and measuring | |
| 一，二，三，四，八，九，十，丈，尺，寸，半，員，卅 | |
| 17 | 聲色類 Sounds and colours |
| 音，色，青，素，黃，赤，白，黑，玄，丹 | |
| 衣服類 Garments and clothing | |
| 衣，糸，巾，冃，屢，帛，黹，絲 | |
| 18 | 人事類 Human activities |
| 言，見，去，㝱 (夢)，疒，勹，享，丮，老，癶，興，喜，交，至，*冘，舁，辵 | |
| 19 | 彳，臥，走，云，𠬜 (大)，鬥，索，來，來，立，釆，㕯，夂(top)，𠬪，令，夊(bottom)，廴，司，了，厶，止，殺，曰，炙，用，亏，行，示，韋，囗，出，匕，束，𦘒，*學，乚，𠬞 (廾)，會，攴，入，死，叀，生，亡，氏，㚔 (幸)，壹，夰，号，*處，步，丩，舛，歹，凶 |
| 20 | 干支類 Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches |
| 干，支，甲，乙，丁，戊，己，辛，壬，癸，丑，卯，辰，申，亥 | |
| 蓍卜類 Prognostication | |
| 爻，兆，卜 | |
| 通用類 Common words | |
| 高，*卑, 比，大，小，先，古，久，㓞，曲，上，明，正，聿，冥，𠔼，*臭，多，夭，幺，耑，氐，永，長，重，東，西，北，亅，危，众，有，旡，丌，其，堅，丂，豈，可，畐，丿，斤，方，苜，冖，非，*弗，豐，*凡，不，勿，左，𠂇，*僉，此，且，齊，自，亼，卂，丨，卓，疋，嗇，*單，是，𡕥，亢，兮，丸，𦣝，㫗, 秝，欠，共，夲，隶，丶，壴，乃，𠨍，亦，叒，卩，帀，亞，*羸，而，巿，爨，*亠，襾，*必，*也，彡 | |
* not among the Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 radicals |
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